


amber is the color of your energy

by timefornothing



Category: Homestuck
Genre: ):, Could Be Canon, Pre-Sburb, angst angst angst, dirkroxy - Freeform, drunkin donuts - Freeform, idk this song is just really good, one sided pining, poor rox, video cam stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 22:05:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7379173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timefornothing/pseuds/timefornothing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Whoa, shades of gold displayed naturally.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>"How's that head coming along?" Roxy yawns, still leaning her arms on her desk but sitting up more so Dirk can see she's not about to fall asleep on him. The sun will be rising where she is soon, but it's still 4 in the morning down there where Dirk is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	amber is the color of your energy

**Author's Note:**

> _You live too far away_  
>  your voice rings like a bell anyway  
> don't give up your independence  
> unless it feels so right  
> nothing good comes easily  
> sometimes you gotta fight

"Rox? You still awake?"

"Mmph." Roxy groans, rolling her head along her forearm. "Barely."

It was late. Too late to be awake, anyways. But Roxy and Dirk had been planning an all-nighter for a couple weeks now, and Roxy was determined to see it through.

"Come on, you can't fall asleep on the stream now."

Roxy snorts as Dirk's comment crackles through the speakers. "Can't leave all the lovely viewers with nothin' to see."

He huffs out a little breath in that way he does when he doesn't want to laugh too hard, and Roxy grins directly up at the webcam. Stream, viewers, it was all just a big joke. They were the last two people on Earth, and they knew it, but it was fun to pretend sometimes. If one of them had a project to work on that they'd been putting off for a while, they'd "stream" it to each other as a means to get things done. Roxy had long ago finished the story she had been working on, and now that the old bottle of wine was gone, she was getting too tired to keep her head up.

Drinking on a stream was never a good idea, but old habits die hard.

"How's that head coming along?" Roxy yawns, still leaning her arms on her desk but sitting up more so Dirk can see she's not about to fall asleep on him. The sun will be rising where she is soon, but it's still 4 in the morning down there where Dirk is.

"Pretty good." Dirk answers, still focusing more on the robot pieces in front of him than the actual conversation. "Just a few more loose wires to connect and then it'll be good to send."

Roxy perks up a bit, furrowing her brow. "Send?"

"Yeah, it's the last piece to Jake's bot."

Oh. Right. Jake.

Roxy sighed silently, hoping the mic on the webcam wouldn't be sensitive enough to pick it up. With just the two of them in the silence of the night on the oceans, it was so easy to forget that there were others out there, somewhere, in the past. It was always just the two of them, had always been the two of them against the end of the world. The last two humans on Earth, Dirk and Roxy. So shouldn't it end up like that? Just the two of them, forever with only each other?

Not that she'd ever get rid of Jane and Jake. They were her BEST friends, and she wouldn't trade talking to them for anything in the world. Talking to them reminded her that there was something else out there, that she wouldn't always be alone. But, still. Sometimes she almost wished she had Dirk to herself, like she did before. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth, so she twisted it into something resembling a grin and teased, "Sending head to your man, I see you, Dirky."

"Not my boyfriend." Dirk responds on automatic, twisting the screwdriver in his hand more smoothly than Roxy has been able to do anything, ever. She'd like to keep blaming the shakes on the alcohol, but she knew it wasn't the only reason. Dirk spins the head in front of him so that the shades are reflecting the light of his many screens back at the webcams, and for a couple seconds, it throws Dirk into shades of black and white before the camera readjusts and corrects it. He has his shades off--a rarity in itself, no MLP pun intended--and the way his deep orange eyes focus on the robot almost makes you jealous.

"Lookin' at that thing like that makes a girl jealous, ya know." You mumble, and Dirk smirks, sparing a glance up to the screen before he looks back down to his work. 

"Almost done, I promise." 

Roxy readjusts in her seat, watching him connect the last few wires. "You know, I could prolly put a few robots in my next wizardfic. Make it into some sorta sci-fi wizfic."

Dirk sits back, checking it for last minute adjustments. "Definitely forward me a copy of that story."

"Yeah, yeah, I know you love your brobots." 

"Well, I finished." Dirk sets the head aside, then rubs his eyes with his fists. He takes his fingerless gloves off, squinting at the screen where your picture would be displayed on his end. "What time is it over there?"

"Almost six, I think." Roxy yawns, looking to the clock. "Oh, whoa, 6:15." She glances over her shoulder to one of the windows where sunlight has just barely begun creeping over the horizon line. It's still just a grey-ish pink, but dang, you really did pull an all-nighter.

"Longest stream yet, isn't it?" Dirk mumbles, and when she looks back to her own screen, his eyes look much more tired now that he's finished his project. "We're at 8 hours, 14 minutes."

"New record!" Roxy gives a weak cheer, leaning her face on her palm. Dirk smiles at the screen, and her chest tightens up. Getting Mr. Stoicass to smile was a specialty of hers, and she did it as often as she could. "The viewers will be so proud."

"Should we keep going?" Dirk asks, and then immediately yawns. Roxy giggles, watching him rub his eyes again.

"And what, just fall asleep on camera?"

"Why not?"

The thought makes her grow still for a moment, picturing it. What would he look like asleep? It's not like she hasn't thought about it before. But now she could actually see it. _Now I could see what it'd look like to have him fall asleep next to me._

"Let me get my jammies on, then!" 

Dirk snorts, and it's just a few quick clicks that transfers the video call to her laptop, and she definitely does not look while Dirk changes. She throws on a loose tank top and old shorts before climbing onto her bed, laptop cradled in her arms before she settles it next to her on the bed. On the screen, she can see Dirk is now shirtless, sliding under the covers on his own mattress on the floor with his laptop in a similar position. The pillows mess up his hair, squishing it around his sharp cheekbones, and ROxy pulls up her own sheets subconsciously as she settles in, looking sideways at the laptop. The lights in his room are off, as are hers, but the only thing lighting him up is the screen in front of him.

"So, you gonna send it off tomorrow?" Roxy asks quietly, noting how the light in her room is growing steadily more orange as the sun continues to creep up.

"Probably." He hums, eyes closed, and Roxy looks carefully at the way his lashes settle on his cheeks. He's got a few freckles, skin that's way lighter than yours, so light it almost looks white in the weird contrast of the glow. Roxy knows she sometimes blends into the background of hers, and she's struck by just how intimate this moment is.

"You still up?" She whispers after a few minutes, and he nods, humming a bit. Poor kid must be worn out, with all that thinkin' he does all the time. Roxy smiles at the screen even though he can't see her, reaching forward a finger to trace around the outline of his face against his pillow.

"Can I tell you a secret?" She asks quietly, and Dirk doesn't move. Her speakers have soft breaths coming from him, and for a second, she marvels at how fast he fell asleep. Man, if only she could do that. He's got one hand clenched tight to his chest while the other is stretched forward towards the laptop. Roxy pretends for a second that he was reaching for her hand.

"It's a big secret, you can't tell anyone." She whispers as if he had responded earlier, and snuggles up closer to her pillow. "I love you."

Dirk remains asleep on the screen, and Roxy watches him as the room around her grows brighter. She used to be able to fall asleep like that, but that was back before she had too much to think about.

That was before she loved someone who couldn't love her back.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Whoa, amber is the color of your energy_  
>  whoa, shades of gold displayed naturally  
> launched a thousand ships in my heart, so easy  
> still it's fine from afar, and you know that  
> whoa, brainstorm take me away from the norm  
> whoa, I got to tell you something


End file.
